


Heart Language

by aroacejoot, ghostwriterofthemachine, loosingletters



Series: Pragmatics of the Jedi [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Conlang, Dai Bendu, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Jedi Culture, Jedi Culture Respected, Languages and Linguistics, Meta, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroacejoot/pseuds/aroacejoot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwriterofthemachine/pseuds/ghostwriterofthemachine, https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: Notes on the Jedi Conlang Dai Bendu developed by Yours Truly for the sake of incorporating linguistics into Star Wars.Includes grammar, meta essays on the language and translations of canon dialogues.
Series: Pragmatics of the Jedi [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885129
Comments: 18
Kudos: 179





	1. Introduction

"The Dai Bendu language was spoken by the members of the ancient Order of Dai Bendu on the frozen planet of Ando Prime. The name of the Je'daii Order was forged in that language."

"Every language is like a one-of-a-kind species. It captures unique conceptualizations of the world and has its own ways of constructing words, phrases and sentences for communicating ideas. As we compare the words and structures of various languages, we come to a greater understanding of our world. (...) Language captures how we perceive the world around us and how we relate to one another, it defines who we are. The Mother tongue language we grow up with is the one used to express what is in our hearts; our heart language."

"Studying language is invaluable for learning about other cultures and mapping their respective developments, histories, myths, customs, etc. Linguistics also helps us understand and document geographical /environmental influences, periods of migration/diaspora, origin of certain spiritual beliefs, etc. through the study of things like cognates, shared myths between cultures, language families, and tracking differences in word usage and dialects over a long period of time."

Sources:

[ Wookiepedia on Dai Bendu ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dai_Bendu_language)

[ Second Quote ](https://www.canil.ca/about/why-study-linguistics/#:~:text=Linguistics%20helps%20us%20understand%20our%20world&text=It%20captures%20unique%20conceptualizations%20of,greater%20understanding%20of%20our%20world.)

[ Third Quote ](https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-importance-of-linguistics)

> **_“Tamah qa brok vaversi, ji enoah qa mikodail orhma bika!”_ **

Or, in literally: “Outside it is cold, but we are all warm together here”, a greeting to welcome somebody home.

This work is meant to act as a guide further explaining the syntax and semantics of our Jedi Conlang  _ Dai Bendu _ . 

We, ghostwriterofthemachine and loosingletters, have decided to make a working conlang for the Jedi, incorporating their philosophy and culture, based on the three words we have of Dai Bendu in canon.

ghostwriterofthemachine: I am a Masters student studying English, as well as an MFA student in poetry. I speak English, Spanish, and Esperanto, and know just enough about French and German that I can cheat my way through a reading at a first-grade reading level, which makes me not nearly as cool as loosingletters. My focus is in translation studies, deep syntax and semantical analysis of English grammar, and the study and analysis of how the language you think in determines  _ how  _ you think — the building blocks of meaning in which you construct the world. The idea of giving that to the Jedi was way too fun to miss out on.

loosingletters: I’m a German third-year English language and literature student with a focus on contrastive syntax - comparing English and German syntax - as I’ll hopefully someday teach English. I speak German and English, have my Latinum, and remember some high school French and Spanish (and hopefully I will get started on Ancient Greek sometime soon.) I am forever in awe of ghostwriterofthemachine’s determination and skill level. I’m especially interested in how giving the Jedi a concrete language opens up new discourse topics.

aroacejoot: I am a freshly graduated college student with a BA in linguists and my focus in on phonetics and writing systems. I primarily study Japanese with some German on the side. I also have some experience with the Ainu language as well as a tiny bit with a couple Salishan languages (Sliammon and Lushootseed) but given that I am personally not Native I won't be drawing from those experiences much. I was brought onto the project after the first month to make sure that two grammar-syntax focused nerds remember that the mouth noises also need to make sense. I made my first con-script in highschool when i made a vertical cursive and ive kinda never stopped being obsessed with writing systems. I just *clenches fist* really love languages.

This project was born after a rather entertaining discussion about the repercussions of Jedi having their own language. We hereby give you permission to use this language in your own projects. We only ask that you credit us as we have put quite a lot of work into constructing this language. Either link back to this series or this work in particular or @ us on tumblr [@dai-bendu-conlang](https://dai-bendu-conlang.tumblr.com/). And if you have any questions, we'll gladly answer them! 

That being said, we hope you enjoy our nerdy project and get inspired to make your own. Have fun exploring some of our thoughts when constructing this language.


	2. Possessive Constructions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possessive Constructions in Dai Bendu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to this series! A lot has changed since our last fanfic update!  
> For one [we have a blog](https://dai-bendu-conlang.tumblr.com/) where you can go to ask us questions and we have finally opened up our [dictionary and grammar overview](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JU15jeoKpsvwcsVCoLzmgVjprqo3lLhB8D60Qcmxevg/edit?usp=sharing)!
> 
> Since our Public document is just a basic overview of the grammar and does not really further elaborate on how to use it concretely, we are currently in the process in setting it up. This story will therefore contain grammar explanations as well as common phrases etc, just like actual books on grammar.
> 
> Enjoy!

# Possessives

While Dai Bendu has 7 overt cases, it doesn’t have an overt genitive case. We chose to forgo this case to show the Jedi’s stance on possession/attachment. So instead of a phrasing that emphasizes your rights to the object, we decided to put emphasis on the object itself.

English: Anakin’s lightsaber

Dai Bendu: The lightsaber of Anakin

**Possessive Constructions in Dai Bendu**

Dai Bendu expresses possessives/ownership with the dative construction _kat [pronoun in dative case],_ which translates to “of _[person]”._ The dative case ending is _-el_ which is attached to the end of a word.

**Example sentence:**

English/Basic: The Padawan’s lightsaber.

English/Basic: Their (singular, Jedi) lightsaber.

_Vocabulary_

__

Dai Bendu: Nev kaitahj kat Padawan **el**.

Dai Bendu: Nev kaitahj kat karel.

The literal translation of this would be “The lightsaber of the Padawan” and “The lightsaber of them”. When translating a Dai Bendu text casually, you would translate it as “The Padawan’s/Their lightsaber” unless you want to stay closer to the actual text.

**Possessive object pronouns**

Possessive Object Pronouns refer back to a noun or noun phrase already used, replacing it to avoid repetition: I pick up the **lightsaber**. **It** is **mine** [= it is my lightsaber].

Possessive Object Pronouns of English are _mine, yours, his/hers/its, ours, yours, theirs_.

Dai Bendu doesn’t have any possessive object pronouns. They are either (1) completely elaborated, (2) dropped altogether if they are understood, (3) replaced with a pronoun, or (4) built via demonstrative pronoun + kat + dative pronoun.

Example sentence:

Anakin has a lightsaber. Ahsoka does not take his.

_Vocabulary_ :

Chio’ah Anakin nak kaitahjak. **Im eelah Ahsoka...**

  1. Are elaborated on: Ahsoka does not take the lightsaber of Anakin/of him



Im eelah Ahsoka nev kaitahjak kat Anakin/karel.

  1. Dropped altogether if they are understood: Ahsoka does not take.



Im eelah Ahsoka.

  1. Replaced with a pronoun: Ahsoka does not take it.



Im eelah Ahsoka qaak.

  1. Built via demonstrative pronoun + kat + dative pronoun: Ahsoka does not take this of Anakin.



Im eelah Ahsoka nev detak kat Anakin.


	3. eno/tama & constructing simple sentences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1) The differences between the two verbs _eno_ and _tama_.
> 
> 2) Constructing simple sentences.

#  **1) eno and tama**

Dai Bendu has two words for the verb “to be”: _eno_ and _tama_.

_Eno_ is used when talking about _being_ with a sense of permanence. Characteristics of a given object, origins, names of planets/cities/objects that likely won’t be subject to change.

_Enoah Obi-Wan Kenobi nak Jedi._

_Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi._

That’s something that is not about to change. It’s a permanent characteristic. You could also apply this to talking about his height or any other permanent feature.

_Tama_ , on the other hand, is used to talk about non-permanent sense of _being_. If you talk about where a person is right now, what age they are, an action, how you’re feeling at this moment - all of these are bound to change.

_Tamah foh brok._

_I am cold_ (...but if I go inside, I’ll be warm again. I will not remain cold.)

**Irregularity**

_Eno_ and _tama_ are irregular verbs. While their past and future tense forms are regular, their present tense forms are not.

#  **2) Constructing simple sentences**

Generally speaking, Dai Bendu word order always puts the verb first, then the corresponding object.

Example: I am young.

Subject: I (foh)

Verb: am, present tense → eno or tama?  
The entire expression describes the state of being young, which is a non-permanent state. Therefore we must use _tama_.

adjective: young (coveri)

Translation: Tamah foh coveri.


	4. The Jedi Code

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Translations of both versions of the Jedi Code/Meditation mantra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We know, we know, this has been asked for a lot :D

_There is no emotion, there is peace.  
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.  
There is no passion, there is serenity.  
There is no chaos, there is harmony.  
There is no death, there is the Force_

Im tumi tamah soo’yth, ji xai enoah kai’an.  
Im tumi tamah delahm, ji xai enoah leo’yth.  
Im tumi tamah bexlyth, ji xai enoah maijah.  
Im tumi tamah chiiuth, ji xai enoah aimato.  
Im tumi tamah kerai’yth, ji xai enoah Dai.

_Emotion, yet peace.  
Ignorance, yet knowledge.  
Passion, yet serenity.  
Chaos, yet harmony.  
Death, yet the Force_

Soo’yth, kyii kai’an.  
Delahm, kyii leo’yth.  
Bexlyth, kyii maijah.  
Chiiuth, kyii aimato.  
Kerai’yth, kyii Dai.

Life would be easier if we could just leave the code here, but unfortunately this is something the fandom fights and dissects over and over again. Therefore, we will elaborate a little on our word choices here and our interpretation of the code. First things first, we say this openly: This is, of course, yet another interpretation of the code. This is colored by our view on the Jedi and what we assume this code is supposed to mean and serve as. We don’t claim this is The Meaning Of The Code, but the way we understand it in English and then attempt to give it nuance in Dai Bendu. You are, of course, welcome to disregard this or make your own translation of it!

That being said, let’s get started with the purpose of the code. First, something about its history. Research done by the wonderful [@ilummoss](https://ilummoss.tumblr.com/) [in this post](https://ilummoss.tumblr.com/post/631258606942208000/lets-talk-about-the-jedi-code).

  * What is now commonly called the “Jedi Code” originates from a 1987 roleplaying rulebook (Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game)
  * The second “yet” version shows up in _Kanan: First Blood_
  * This “code” is a mantra and not a code of conduct/law



Now let’s turn to the purpose of the Code/Mantra! The Jedi Code is one of the first things the younglings learn in the temple, which we assume means that you kind of learn it at the age you also end up learning nursery rhymes. You can see them chant it, repeat it. The purpose of mantras is to help focus/calm your mind. So, what conclusion can we draw from this? This Code is likely supposed to help the children focus on their connection to the Force so it must be an instrument to teach them how to interact with it.

From this, we draw our first conclusion: The second half of each line (peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony) is about the Force. The Force _is_ all of these attributed.

Our second conclusion, derived from this, is that the first half of each line (emotion, ignorance, passion, chaos, death) are the things you bring with you into the Force. In moderation, all of these things are good. Being happy, knowing which knowledge is good for you, being passionate about something you love, knowing life can be a bit chaotic, and death, which is a part of life.

However, when you don’t keep those in check, they overwhelm you, twist and become negative. Contrasting Obi-Wan, who does feel emotion, deeply, and yet doesn’t get overwhelmed, while Anakin does and it ruins him, shows this very neatly. So these aspects can all be wonderful, but you have to be careful not to drag them with you into the Force or use them to access the Force in such a way.

Now, let’s get started on our translation. Let’s start easy with the nouns and do it line by line:

 _There is no emotion, there is peace. -_ Im tumi tamah soo’yth, ji xai enoah kai’an

 _soo’yth_ , nominalization of the verb _soo_ , which means “to feel” in an emotional sense. _kai’an_ , meaning “inner peace” As in being at peace with yourself e.g. basically the state required for Force Ghosting.

This line is pretty similar to its English equivalent. We wanted to emphasize that peace is not a state of being that’s everywhere or political, but it’s something inside you. The quiet in the eye of the storm.

 _There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. -_ Im tumi tamah delahm, ji xai enoah leo’yth

 _delahm_ is an interesting noun as it refers to “ignorance” as well as “the inability to help”. We wondered what kind of background a term such as ignorance has especially in the context of the Jedi valuing knowledge and learning a lot. As such we defined that “ignorance” would correspond more closely to the inability to help. As long as you know something, or aware of where you stand, you are not helpless. _leo’yth_ is the nominalization of the verb _leo_ meaning “to know” and so “knowledge”.

With this line, we really wanted to dig into this idea of knowledge is not just factual knowledge, but also wisdom. And if you act without wisdom, ignorant, perhaps even purposefully so, this is not something to favor. Of course nobody is expected to know everything, but you are supposed to remember, to know, that you can always ask others for help.

_There is no passion, there is serenity. - Im tumi tamah bexlyth, ji xai enoah maijah_

_bexlyth_ is the nominalization of the verb _bexl_ , which refers to covet/attached love and as the noun leans more into the concept of “passion” and “obsession”. maijah, on the other hand, translates as “serenity, calm, tranquillity”.

Our intention here was to elaborate on the huge dimension behind passion. Passion in and of itself is nothing bad, but it can be if it is done out of obsession. When considering that this mantra is used to interact with the Force, it might also demand that you leave every other thought behind and focus only on the Force.

_There is no chaos, there is harmony. - Im tumi tamah chiiuth, ji xai enoah aimato_

_chiiuth_ means “chaos, destruction, unrest” where _aimato_ is “harmony” and “cosmic balance”. Cosmic balance is here the state which we assume the Jedi want to achieve in the entire galaxy. When canon speaks of “there needs to be balance”, this is it.

Here we have chaos as everything that disrupts the harmony. Of course there is something such as good chaos, it would be quite boring if every day were the same, stagnant, but in this case we decide that chaos and destruction does not exist negatively in the Force. There are plants that require forest fires before they can sprout - the natural circle of life includes chaos and destruction, but only ever in a way that plays in harmony with its other parts, rebirth and healing.

_There is no death, there is the Force - Im tumi tamah kerai’yth, ji xai enoah Dai_

_kerai’yth_ is the nominalization of the verb _kerai_ , which means “to die”. This line is pretty much the same as the original version.

Now that we’ve got all the vocabulary done, let’s talk a bit about grammar. We’ll start with the first part of each sentence _Im tumi tamah_.

 _tamah_ is the present tense form of the temporary form of “to be”. We chose to use this instead of “enoah” to show that these states of being are temporary and not, like the Force and its attributes, eternal.

A little opposed to this is our choice of the consequential marker _tumi_. _tumi_ marks a state of something that is currently happening and will continue to happen in the future. This is used mostly for statements of being. As you can see, this is in contrast to our choice of tamah, but the reason for that is hidden in our negation particle _im_.

 _Im,_ in this case, negates the whole expression. _tumi tamah_ gives the speaker the understanding that something temporary is the current state of being, when negating this entire sentence, we get the translation that this temporary experience is _not_ your new and eternal state of being.

Which brings us to the differences in syntax and overall translation. In the structure of the original Basic sentence, the negation only has scope over the noun. In _There is no chaos_ , the “no” negates only “chaos”. The literal translation of the Dai Bendu version would be more along the lines of “Not is there any state of chaos”, which, of course, is a lot more wordy.

Now, on the flip side, we have _there is_. In Dai Bendu, we have _ji xai enoah. ji_ means “but”. We inserted this preposition here to highlight the contrast and negation. The first half of each statement says what there is not, _but_ that doesn’t mean you are lost because in the Force, you will find the other.

 _enoah_ is our eternal/permanent form of “to be”. The Force is eternal, it will forever be all these attributes the Jedi give to it. xai is our Force-influenced marker. It represents that an action took place because the Force destined it to be, it is “Force-willed” if you want. This makes the entire sentence a bit self-referential and implies that this state is eternal because the Force is and because the Force wants it to be. The Jedi believe singularly in the Light side of the Force and see the Dark as a corruption and poisoning of it. Therefore, the Force strives for peace, knowledge, serenity, harmony as much as it embodies it.

Now that we have discussed both statements, we can put together a full literal translation:

 _There is no emotion, there is peace_ turns into _Not is there a state of emotion, but the Force wills there to be peace within itself_. 

And that is, all in all, a pretty sweet mantra to hold onto.

Now! For some explanation on the shortened version. We know that both versions existed during the prequels at the same time, which suggests two things: either they were both passed on independently/complementary, or they are identical in meaning.

 _Emotion, yet peace -_ Soo’yth, kyii kai’an

The word “yet” is very interesting because its meaning is inherently “despite that/but/even though”, which means that this shortened form of the mantra can actually be read identically to the long one. By striking the negation out of the sentence, you need a preposition with that inherent negative meaning, which is something “yet” is capable of!

So in our reading of this shortened mantra, it’s identical to the long one, but given how many syllables the long one has, it’s no wonder they have the Initiates recite the short one. So there is no secret “oh no, the Jedi don’t acknowledge emotions so we need this updated better version of the code!” hidden away here.


	5. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's talk about the concept of time in Dai Bendu.

Let’s talk about the perception of time in Dai Bendu. Various cultures have different views on time! You can see that in the various phrasings we use. Just consider the saying “Monday came too soon”. It assumes that time is something that can move towards us, while “I can’t believe we arrived in February already” assumes  _ you  _ move towards time. The anchoring is different, and so is the placement in time. English, being written and read left to right, assumes the past is towards the left and behind us, while the future is right and ahead of us. Other cultures, other writing systems, work differently. All of this shapes your understanding of time. [ [ Further Reading/Listening ](https://lingthusiasm.com/post/170468488906/transcript-lingthusiasm-episode-15-talking-and) ]

So what does Dai Bendu do?

Our writing system is left to right, but rather than thinking of time as something behind or in front of us, Dai Bendu thinks in terms of “above” and “below”. Our preposition “zana” refers to “before” when telling the time, but “below, under, beneath, behind” when talking about a place.

Our preposition “nepa” refers to “after” when telling the time, but to “above, over, on top” when talking about a place. This means that both are anchored to the present. The present is the middle, the verge of past and future. This concept of time is something we drew from this little dialogue:

> Obi-Wan: But Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future.   
>  Qui-Gon Jinn: But not at the expense of the moment.

Your past is your foundation and therefore below you. You stand on it and you can’t just erase it. You won’t stay the same person, but your past will always shape you and contribute to the person you are in the present. The future is above you, something in reach and you have to be mindful of, but you can’t lose sight of the present. The future in Dai Bendu is still something more tangible than the sense of the future we in the real world have. This is largely due to the fact that visions, and therefore a more concrete perception of the future, exist.

This orientation towards the future is also present in our tenses. We have the Mystic Future, which is used to describe visions. While, of course, visions can also be of the past or present, they appear to be more future aligned in general. Our Consequential Aspect is highly future-orientated as it describes the consequences your actions are bound to have. Our Tense Impossible, on the other hand, highlights the relationship every other time has with the past. It describes a time that “never was/is/will be”, which means it takes a look from a certain standpoint in time that acts as your foundation, and from there on draws conclusions about the future.

What practical consequences does this have?

For one, you’d draw a timeline from the bottom to the top of a page. The bottom being the past dates and the future dates being at the top. Dates are written year/month/day and time as hour/minute/second.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions, visit [our blog](https://dai-bendu-conlang.tumblr.com/)!  
> Check out our grammar and dictionary [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JU15jeoKpsvwcsVCoLzmgVjprqo3lLhB8D60Qcmxevg/edit?usp=sharing)!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Anakin Skywalker's Guide to Jedi Traditions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25676224) by [loosingletters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters)
  * [A Moment of Peace](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26345020) by [EmeraldHeiress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldHeiress/pseuds/EmeraldHeiress)
  * [Shades of Light](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26221099) by [EmeraldHeiress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldHeiress/pseuds/EmeraldHeiress)
  * [Men of Power](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917921) by [AlabasterInk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlabasterInk/pseuds/AlabasterInk)
  * [THE FORCE WILLS DOCUMENTARY](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26918308) by [js71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/js71/pseuds/js71)
  * [jire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070681) by [js71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/js71/pseuds/js71)
  * [ibli jetii](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27095155) by [js71](https://archiveofourown.org/users/js71/pseuds/js71)
  * [Nev Ikioyth {The Vow}](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29580471) by [EmeraldHeiress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldHeiress/pseuds/EmeraldHeiress)




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